WABASH, Ind. (AP) — A northern Indiana sheriff’s deputy shot and wounded a 51-year-old man who was holding what he mistakenly believed was a real gun while serving a search warrant at an apartment, police said Wednesday.
The man was taken to a Fort Wayne hospital after Tuesday night’s shooting in Wabash. In a news release, the Indiana State Police, which is investigating the shooting, said in a news release that the man was in stable condition and was expected to make a full recovery
The shooting happened about 8:30 p.m. as officers with the Wabash County Sheriff’s Department and the Wabash Police Department were entering an apartment residence to serve a search warrant for a narcotics investigation, police said.
According to the release, when officers entered they ordered the man several times to drop what appeared to be a gun. When the man refused to drop the weapon, a sheriff’s deputy fired multiple times, striking the man at least once. The state police said an investigation revealed that the man was holding a “realistic replica airsoft handgun” that has a muzzle with the same diameter and shape as a real handgun.